{"id":264122,"date":"2026-05-08T23:35:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T23:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/264122\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T23:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T23:35:08","slug":"indiantown-traffic-stop-uncovers-gun-clown-mask-in-teens-backpack-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/264122\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiantown traffic stop uncovers gun, clown mask in teen’s backpack"},"content":{"rendered":"

INDIANTOWN, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A 16-year-old boy was arrested in Indiantown on Thursday after deputies say they found a loaded gun and a clown mask during a traffic stop.<\/p>\n

Martin County Sheriff’s Office<\/a> Lieutenant Michael McCarthy<\/a> said deputies assigned to the West County Road Patrol Division were on a routine patrol route at night when they pulled a vehicle over for equipment violations.<\/p>\n

During the stop, deputies say they consetually patted down the passenger, triggering the discovery of a loaded gun in the 16-year-old’s waistband.<\/p>\n

After detaining both the driver and the passenger, deputies searched the vehicle and found a backpack belonging to the teen with a full-face clown mask inside.<\/p>\n

See also: Chris Hansen joins Martin County deputies in arresting 6 men during child predator sting<\/a><\/p>\n

The gun and clown mask combination raised deputies’ concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually, having these two things doesn’t lead to good intentions,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cHaving a loaded firearm and a mask or face covering usually indicates that some type of crime was going to occur.\u201d<\/p>\n

The teen, whose name is not being disclosed due to his age, was swiftly arrested and charged with illegal possession of a concealed firearm, a felony, authorities said.<\/p>\n

McCarthy also noted the broader risks involving teenagers and firearms.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen we encounter juveniles the maturity level there is not there,\u201d he said. \u201cThey don’t fully understand the ramifications and consequences of their actions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIANTOWN, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A 16-year-old boy was arrested in Indiantown on Thursday after deputies say they found…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":["post-264122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}